Planted

Psalms 1:1-13 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."


I have placed a picture here for you to see what the Scripture was referring to because I never would have believed it until I saw it.  To the right, you see a tree that has been fed by a wadi- a river of water than rushes down off of a desert mountain when the rains come. Wadis work like this: you don’t see them until the flood comes. And then they rise quickly. Afterwards, the disappear almost as abruptly as they came. Yet they leave the effects of their nourishment behind them.

You can see those mountains in the distant background-and, of course, you can see that the tree is in the middle of nowhere with no life or vegetation. However, we know that the tree has been receiving water from the wadi (which is called a “stream of water”) because of its growth.

I always imagined that the Bible was speaking of a tree that stood on a river bank. But, that doesn’t appear to be the case. And, the illustration we see here fits more with the climate and culture where the Bible was written. It shows us that life may be tough, but that God sends what we need, as we need it, so that (despite the climate) we can stay nourished and grow. Other verses that shows us much this image is found in the Psalm 23:1, 2: “The Lord is my Shepherd… He leads me beside still waters.”

David said in Psalm 1 that we would be like a tree planted by a stream of water. I always conjured up images of massive trees by wide rivers- placid rivers with lush vegetation and lots of water. Water as far as you could see. But David lived near the desert. He fled for his life-multiple times in the desert. Yet God sustained him. Though the environment looked bleak, The Lord brought streams of water to him each time he needed them- in just the right place.
Think about this:

-What if the tree did not trust where the Creator placed it?

-What if the tree kept moving with the circumstances, chasing greener grass or a different pasture when, all along, the rain was about to send a stream to the exact place where the tree was?! The tree would never grow, and it would always miss the streams.Can you imagine what would happen if that tree kept getting transplanted to find the next best stream? It’s roots would continually find themselves uprooted, never taking hold and, even when the good rain did come, the tree would not be able to stand and catch the blessing.

-What if, in His grace, God has you right where He wants you to be, right where He has orchestrated your destiny?

Your church may not be what you want it to be, so you begin to pray with your pastor that God will be the centerpiece of the church and use it for His glory.  God put you there for a reason and although it may be hard to understand at sometimes why you have to deal with what you have to, trust the Lord. He will bring you through each and every step of the way and when it's all said and done, prove to you why He put you there in the first place.